No. 14 Buckeyes Sweep Grand Canyon, 3-0

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 14 Ohio State men's volleyball team earned a three-set sweep (25-18, 31-29, 25-23) Friday night over MIVA rival Grand Canyon in St. John Arena. The win lifted the Buckeyes to 6-6 overall and 3-2 in the league.

Defensively, the Buckeyes tied a season-high with 11 blocks in the win, totaling a season-high eight solo blocks with six block assists. Lutz tied a season-best with four on the night (2s, 2a), while Henchy's three solo blocks was a career-best. Henchy had a match-high 11 digs, while freshman libero Gabriel Domecus added 10.

Grand Canyon (6-8, 0-5 MIVA) had two total double-digit kills in the match. Ben Ponnet led all student-athletes with 18 and Robbie Brannick finished with 11. Setter Keith Smith had 38 assists and Gerrard Lipscombe had a team-best nine digs.

Set one kicked off with the two squads exchanging back-to-back points. Locked at 10, a kill by Guessous triggered a 6-0 Buckeye run to push OSU ahead at 16-10. After a GCU timeout, the `Lopes rebounded with a run to cut the score at 19-14, Ohio State. The Buckeyes, however, closed out the set with a solo Henchy block to win 25-18.

The Buckeyes grabbed a quick two-point lead to start set two and a solo block by Henchy gave the Buckeyes a 9-5 advantage. GCU responded with a 5-0 run to take its first lead at 12-11 and held on throughout the middle of the set. The Buckeyes battled back to tie the score at 21 on a Johnson kill and the teams went back and forth with multiple set points for both teams. A Grand Canyon service error set the score 30-29 and a kill by Johnson sealed a 31-29 win.

Locked at three, two kills by Lutz gave Ohio State a 5-3 advantage. A Lutz/ Dustan Neary block followed by a GCU error made it 12-10 and a four-point Buckeye run pushed the home squad to a 16-11 lead. A Henchy kill and a Johnson solo block moved OSU to a 22-17 lead and a kill from Johnson gave the squad match point at 24-20. The `Lopes capitalized on Buckeye errors to come within one at 24-23, but a kill from Blough wrapped up a 25-23 victory.

The Buckeyes again host Grand Canyon Saturday in 7 p.m. ET match. The conference opponents square off in St. John Arena and admission is free. Fans are encouraged to arrive after 6:15 p.m. Saturday evening to avoid Ohio State men's basketball traffic and park on the south side of St John Arena.